Saturday, July 25, 2015

Doomed Tree

Over on the Avenue B side of Tompkins Square Park, in an area where no one goes, grows a tree that is doomed:

Doomed tree.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

You can see in the first picture that this tree is surrounded by other, much larger trees, that completely overshadow it.

In its effort to find sunlight, the doomed tree grows sideways, and has already reached the point where it needs to be supported by a splint. Assuming it's able to draw nutrients out of soil already depleted by the large trees, how long can it grow in this direction before its weight causes it to collapse?